Tiffany, Saks take charge of retail index

CHICAGO (MarketWatch) -- Advancers won out Thursday as the nation's largest retailers ranging from Tiffany Co. to Sears Holdings rankled both ends of the spectrum.

The S&P Retail Index
RLX, +0.00%
the sector's key measure of growth, climbed almost 1% to close at 528.27.

Shares of Tiffany
TIF, +0.63%
up more than 2% early after the high-priced jeweler reported strong first-quarter earnings and raised its forecast for the full year, cooled off and finished with again of just 11 cents at $52.57.

But it still helped give shares of Saks Inc.
SKS, +0.75%
and Nordstrom Inc.
JWN, +0.08%
the upscale department-store retailers, an early boost too. Shares of Saks were up 1.6% to $20.04 while Nordstrom added 1.3% to end at $51.93.

On the flip side, shares of Sears Holdings
SHLD, +0.43%
tumbled 2.3% to $179.03 after the parent of Sears Roebuck and Kmart stores turned in disappointing results amid sales declines and loss of market share.

Off the index, shares of Jo-Ann Stores
JAS, +5.96%
jumped 9% to $33.82 after The Deal reported the fabric-and-crafts retailer was on the sales block and could fetch $1 billion.

Shares of women's-apparel retailer Chico's FAS
CHS, -1.04%
were higher by 6.3% to $27.24 after it delivered strong first-quarter results as well.

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